Possibly the most shocking statistic I’ve come across in recent times is the following: It is estimated that 7400 current or former members of the United States Armed Services take their own lives annually. This is obviously not just a problem specific to the USA, here in the UK military personnel face the same challenges on active duty and when their tours end. SongwritingWith:Soldiers is a non-profit organisation, founded in 2012 by singer-songwriter Darden Smith, which pairs veterans and active duty military with songwriters to hopefully confirm the old idiom “A problem shared is a problem halved.” With this in mind Mary Gauthier’s ‘Rifles & Rosary Beads’ could well be the most important album you’ll hear this year.

The use of music as a psychological tool is nothing new, “music gives wings to mind” to quote Ancient Greek philosopher Plato, but help for veterans and their families was very slow to arrive and only really started to change, for the better, during World War II with studies into “Shell Shock” or as it is now known PTSD (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder). SongwritingWith:Soldiers not only helps people deal with their issues, but I’d also like to think helps the listener, in some small way, to understand their problems and the impact stressful situations can have on all of us.

This important issue would, of course, be devalued if ‘Rifles & Rosary Beads’ failed to work as an album. We’re all found in the past that good intentions are all very well, but if they fail to result in a successful artistic achievement, then it’s very difficult for the listener to relate to the issues involved. In the hands of Mary Gauthier this is never an issue as she has exorcised her own demons in the past through her music, which makes her the ideal songwriter to be involved in this project and with the likes of Will Kimbrough involved, you know the playing will be of a very high quality.

The songs on ‘Rifles’ deal with a variety of issues that relate to both the military and their families with opener ‘Soldering On’ looking at the relationship between the soldier and the fellow members of his unit “A Soldier’s a cog inside a wheel, up or down, all for one, the closest family I have known” and facing up to the loss of that intense dynamic on returning home. The track builds slowly as acoustic guitars give way to edgy distorted electric guitar and scratchy violin, while drums pound and cymbals crash. The instrumentation giving the track a stark, morose quality ideally matched to the feelings of uncertainty and isolation that change can bring. ‘It's her love’ hangs on the repeated refrain of the song title as a chorus which displays such simplicity and power that nothing else really needs to be said while ‘Iraq’ shines a light on a situation equally relevant at home in the workplace as in the titular country. ‘Iraq’ tells the story of a serving female mechanic and her struggles to fit in with her co-workers in the face of sexual harassment. The song feels even more current in the shadow of the ongoing media coverage of the film industry.

‘The War after the war’ is one of many standouts on this fine album, Written by Gauthier, Beth Neilsen Chapman (who also adds backing vocals) with six wives of serving soldiers, the song is a very powerful statement that raises the question of where is the training for the wives who are left to pick up the pieces. “Who’s going to care for the ones who look after the ones who went to war?” “I'm a soldier too just like you. I serve unseen, caught in between my pain and the pain of someone else.” The song has a stately grace that emphasises the lyrics and still finds room for some nice interplay between guitar and Michele Gazich’s violin. “Landmines in the living room, eggshells on the floor” is a lyric that sums things up perfectly. Gauthier’s mournful harmonica and a mannered Neilson Hubbard drum track gently usher in ‘Still on the Ride’ while Kimbrough’s mandolin flourishes add colour to a song that asks the age-old question… Why them and not me?

One of the things that most struck me on my first visit to the USA over a decade ago was the way in which the military were respected, from discounts in diners to being acknowledged at theme parks and baseball games. ‘Bullet Holes in the Sky’ is another highlight “They thank me for my service, and wave their little flags. They genuflect on Sundays and yes they’d send us back” which musically is a wonderful demonstration of the power of an acoustic guitar coupled with a simple piano melody. ‘Brothers’ reminds us thatIt’s easy to forget how young most soldiers are when they join up, their naivety can be quite shocking and it takes real bravery to admit your limitations “I thought RPGs were fireworks” a young girl reflects as she struggles to be taken seriously, despite facing the same hardships, enduring the same training and fighting the same battles.

“I Got Your Six” is a terminology that I’m sure will be familiar to most of us. That of someone watching your back and ‘I Got Your Six’ does a fine job of emphasises the bond between soldiers in combat situations, and the vital trust and faith required in the person next to you “At Six o’ clock I’d die for you and I know you’d do the same” which is emphasized by a really terrific deep vocal harmony. ‘Morphine 1-2’ tells the story of a lost helicopter and is given added poignancy by Danny Mitchell’s horn parts which act as a fitting eulogy for the fallen.

The album concludes with ‘Stronger Together’ with Gauthier joined by fellow songwriter Ashley Cleveland and six EOD (Explosive Ordinance Disposal) wives. EOD must surely be one of the most dangerous professions in the world “They’re hurt in places the eye can’t see. We miss the man our husband used to be.” Mary Gauthier has crafted an album with great care of stories that need to be told and deserve to be heard. It could never be classified as an easy listen but it’s poignant, compelling and above all honest. It has the ability to make you think and I’m sure all involved would settle for that.

Celebrated bluegrass stars Sara Watkins, Aoife O’Donovan and Sarah Jarosz first joined forces as a trio in 2014 and, having dabbled with some singles and live appearances in the last couple of years, they’re now releasing their debut album ‘See You Around’. As individual live performers each has a formidable reputation, so catching them as a band on their current tour is surely a must (they’re back in the UK in May if you missed their recent London show). Given Jarosz’s modest collection of Grammy awards and the lauded, long-established band and solo careers of O’Donovan and Watkins (of Crooked Still and Nickel Creek fame, respectively) it’s little wonder that this release carries with it the weight of high expectation.

Possibly the most shocking statistic I’ve come across in recent times is the following: It is estimated that 7400 current or former members of the United States Armed Services take their own lives annually. This is obviously not just a problem specific to the USA, here in the UK military personnel face the same challenges on active duty and when their tours end. SongwritingWith:Soldiers is a non-profit organisation, founded in 2012 by singer-songwriter Darden Smith, which pairs veterans and active duty military with songwriters to hopefully confirm the old idiom “A problem shared is a problem halved.” With this in mind Mary Gauthier’s ‘Rifles & Rosary Beads’ could well be the most important album you’ll hear this year.

Dane Joneshill and I have a few things in common: we both write songs and make records; we are both slightly ill-at-ease with social media; we’re the same age and we both know the simultaneous joy and pain of life as a domestic dad. Obviously, I shouldn’t let this sense of kinship colour what ought to be an objective appreciation of his debut album, Everything That Rises Must Converge, but it’s just possible it might.

Between Two Shores is Hansard’s third solo album and, rather than finding him adrift as its title might suggest, it sees him grounded as a solo artist for the first time. Plenty of the songs from his first two outings would’ve passed unnoticed as Frames songs but this album really seems to put an end to all of that. I will always associate Glen Hansard with the raw crunch and visceral angst of ‘Pavement Tune’ and the Zeppelin crashings of ‘The Stars Are Underground’ (that said, I do always seem to be about twenty years behind the times) but that urgent, exploratory rock of youth has totally given way to an effortless songwriting maturity and an altogether more seasoned approach to making records.

Chicago based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Althea Grace has packed plenty into her eighteen years. Althea played her first show with the highly respected; Grammy-winning Los Lobos aged eight, an association that continues to this day. More recently there was a debut solo album at fifteen and even more recently touring and recording with Gabe Burdulis in the duo Future Stuff. This would bring her to the attention of guitarist Doyle Bramhall II whose credits include Roger Waters, Eric Clapton and (for those of us with long memories) Arc Angels with Charlie Sexton and the Double Trouble rhythm section.

Back in October, I was lucky enough to be invited along to the first night of Country Music Week at Bush Hall in London. The act who had the unenviable task of opening proceedings, in the wake of the Las Vegas atrocity the previous day, were Nashville based duo Jordan Walker and Johnny McGuire collectively known as Walker McGuire. The pair got the evening off to a superb start with a bunch of cool harmony-driven songs laced with charm and humour, while still respecting the fallen. A few months on and the boys are about to release their first EP and the results are impressive.

Impossibly handsome Canadian singer songwriter LeRiche has somehow found his way to us here at RGM and we’re very glad he did, as his debut EP is a rather nice thing. He made an appearance at The Great Escape festival earlier in the year and now the seven-song X-Dreamer is out in the UK on Fierce Panda. The EP is a curious mix of acoustically driven songs, beats and pop-smoothness with flawless production values. Think (if you can) Kings of Convenience meets George Michael via Noah & The Whale.

Every melodic rock fan with half a brain knows that there is no such thing as the perfect AOR album. From the late ‘70s through to the early ‘90s we were awash with perfect moments but, for the past two and a half decades, bands have matched the gems of that period with only very limited success. These days, making records is cheaper and faster; sonically sub-standard AOR albums arrive at an alarming rate and are all accompanied by unhelpful amounts of hype, so it’s no wonder that fans have become cynical about new releases. How refreshing it is, then, to come across an artist whose press makes no claim whatsoever and who has made an album that doesn’t sound as if it was cobbled together in a hurry. One-man freaky genius (he plays, sings, produces and mixes everything) Tom Satin quietly released his debut in 2014 and now the follow-up, It’s About Time, has arrived seemingly out of thin air. While it’s not perfect, I’d say it’s about as close as anyone has got in a very long time.